September/October 2021 -- The Trip with purpose

I wrote about my father's passing away in a blog post in my other blog. He passed away of COVID-19 during peak of pandemic in April -2021.  Because of the peak of pandemic, he was cremated with COVID protocol on the next day after his death and we decided to hold off to other rituals for a later date and time where it might become safer for people to travel.

September 2021 during pitru paksha, we decided it was the right time to continue and complete the first set of rituals related to his passing away. After his cremation, we had kept his last remains in our garden and asthi visarjan was the first step to kick start the set of rituals that were to follow. 

Here is the travelog of the road trip that we undertook to bid final farewell to my father.

1. Day 01 -- 17 September 2021, Bengaluru to Hyderabad
2. Day 02 -- 18 September 2021, Hyderabad to Bhopal
3. Day 03 -- 19 September 2021, Rest day at Bhopal
4. Day 04 -- 20 September 2021, Official Work at Bhopal
5. Day 05 -- 21 September 2021, Lots of bureaucratic work at Bhopal
6. Day 06 -- 22 September 2021, More bureaucratic work at Bhopal
7. Day 07 -- 23 September 2021, Asthi Visarjan at Prayagraj
8. Day 08 -- 24 September 2021, Asthi Visarjan and Back
9. Day 09 -- 25 September 2021, In search of North Indian Rivers, Bhopal to Noida
10. Day 10 -- 26 September 2021, Towards Haridwar and Rishikesh
11. Day 11 -- 27 September 2021, Noida to Gwalior
12. Day 12 -- 28-September 2021, Gwalior to Orccha
13. Day 13 -- 29 September 2021, Orccha to Ujjain
14. Day 14 -- 30 September 2021, Ujjain to Omkareswar and Back
15. Day 15 -- 01-October-2021, Ujjain to Bhopal
16. Day 16 -- 02-October-2021, Dashmi Rituals
17. Day 17 -- 03-October-2021
18. Day 18 -- 04-October-2021, Terahvi Rituals
19. Day 19 -- 05-October-2021
20. Day 20 -- 06-October-2021, Bhopal to Bhedaghat
21. Day 21 -- 07-October-2021, Bhedaghat to Amarkantak
22. Day 22 -- 08-October-2021, Amarkantak to Nagpur
23. Day 23 -- 09-October-2021, Nagpur to Bengaluru

This completes the total trip. The total Toll paid was Rs. 7778. Total amount towards fuel was more than Rs. 80,000/-.

Christmas 2017, Madhya Pradesh, Jal Mahotsav

We decided to have a lazy drive during Christmas of 2017. We had not planned on visiting too many places. The plan was to relax. We heard that Jal Mahotsav is going on in Hanuwantiya Tapu near Omkareshwar and it sounded like an interesting place to visit, so we decided to add that to our itinerary as well.

22-12-2017
The schools were only closing by afternoon, so the plan was to drive up to Hyderabad on the first day. We got into something important at the last minute, by the time we left it was 3PM. We were immediately off towards Airport Road. We were all hungry but decided to cross the town before stopping for Lunch.
4:40 PM Crossed the Airport and stopped at Nandi Upachar. This was the first time we stopped at Nandi Upachar and compared to Kamath Upachar which used to be our primary stop point earlier, this is much better. Here is my review of the place.
5:30 PM Crossed Chikkaballapura.
6:20 PM Crossed Penukonda
7:10 PM Crossed Ananthpur.

7:40 PM Stopped at a newly opened Cafe Coffee Day just after the Marur Toll Plaza.

10:50 PM Stopped at the next Cafe Coffee Day at Stop N Go Food Plaza just after Pullur Toll Plaza.
12:50 AM Arrived at Oakwood Residence Kapil at Hyderabad.

23-12-2017
9:15 AM Checked out of the hotel and quickly got on to ORR towards Nagpur.
10:59 AM Reached Divya Resort & Restaurant near Jangampally. It is a decent facility on this highway for a break.
1:30 PM Stopped at Punjabi Dhaba near HP Petrol Station. This is just a typical Dhaba with decent food. The restrooms in the petrol station are not in very good shape.
5:11 PM Reached Le Meredien Hotel in Nagpur and checked in.

24-12-2017
The original plan was to getup quickly and be on our way but we decided to chill and take it easy.
10:28 AM Checked out from the hotel and left towards Bhopal.
1:30 PM Stopped at Hotel Meghna and Restaurant just near Betul.
5:20 PM Reached Bhopal

25-12-2017
We had to leave to Indore for Oil Change for my car. Since Bhopal doesn't have any service station for my car, I had to go to Indore for the same.
8:00 AM Left from Home towards Indore.
11:30 AM Reached the car dealer. The job was simple, just a simple oil change but it still took couple of hours to get it done.
1:20 PM With the job done, left for Bhopal.
3:30 PM Stopped at Sol Retreat for a quick snack.
5:00 PM Reached back home.

26-12-2017
This was a chillout day.

27-12-2017
This was another chillout day.

28-12-2017
Next couple of days were for a trip to Hanuwantiya.
8:00 AM Left to Indore Road.
12:15 PM Reached Indira Sagar Hydal Power Plant.

Here is the 360 degree view of the Indira Sagar Hydal Power Plant.

After few pictures, we carry on.
1:30 PM We reached Hanuwantiya Tapu.

The place is very interesting, many water games. There is a MP Tourism place to stay. They alway have few house boats. The only problem is that the place is very crowded.

29-12-2017
10:15 AM Left from Hanuwantiya Tapu and started driving towards Omkareswar.
11:30 AM Reached Omkareshwar.

12:30 PM Left from Omkareshwar towards Maheshwar.
1:40 PM Reached Maheshwar Fort.

3:50 PM Leave Maheshwar. We went to Narmada Retreat for something resembling the Lunch but the place was closed. So we decided we will have something on our way.

4:30 PM Stopped at Madhuban Hotel where the road from Maheshwar meets the AB Road.
11:00 PM Finally arrive in Bhopal.

30-12-2017
Finally the vacation is completing, we have to leave for Bengaluru back.
6:30 AM Leave from Bhopal, immediately start towards Hoshangabad.
9:15 AM Drive through the state highway and reach at Betul. We stop at Hotel Meghna and Restaurant for Breakfast.
1:00 PM Stop at Le Meredien, Nagpur for Lunch.
6:30 PM Stopped at Divya Resort & Restaurant in Jangampally for evening snack and chai.
8:37 PM Reached Hyderabad and checked in at Oakwood Residence Kapil.


31-12-2017
11:10 AM Checked out from the hotel and started towards Bengaluru.
3:30 PM Stopped at Hyway Lounge for some snacks and tea.
4:15 PM Stopped at Highway Dolphin's Restaurant.

8:00 PM Reached Bengaluru.

Travelog: Seven Jyotirlings and other stuff, 14 days

In summer of 2013, we decided to drive to Seven Jyotirlings and back in 15 days. This travelog tries to capture the drive, experience and anything else that I found interesting. It is divided in 15 parts with each devoted to one day. The trip was done mostly in continuation with few day rest in between. The return journey was done after a gap of 11 days.

1. 06-April-2013 Bangalore to Pune, Part 1/14
2. 07-April-2013 Pune to Aurangabad, Ghrusneshwar Jyotirling and other local sightseeing, Part 2/14
3. 08-April-2013 Aurangabad to Nashik with Bhimshankar Jyotirling on the way Part 3/14
4. 09-April-2013 Nashik to Ahmedabad with Trimbakeshwar Jyotirling on the way Part 4/14
5. 10-April-2013 Ahmedabad local stay, visit to Gandhi Asram Part 5/14
6. 11-April-2013 Ahmedabad to Gir National Park Part 6/14
7. 12-April-2013 Stay in Gir National Park, Safaris Part 7/14
8. 13-April-2013 Gir to Dwarka via Somnath Jyotirling Part 8/14

9. 14-April-2013 Visit to Nageshwara Jyotirling, Dwarkadhish Temple, Bhet Dwarka Part 9/14
10. 15-April-2013 Dwarka to Surat Part 10/14
11. 16-April-2013 Surat to Ujjain Part 11/14
12. 17-April-2013 Car repair in Ujjain and Indore
13. 18-April-2013 Visit to Omkareshwar Jyotirling and Mahakaleshwar Jyotirling Part 12/14
14. 19-April-2013 to 28-April-2013 return trip postponed
15. 29-April-2013 Ujjain to Pune Part 13/14
16. 30-April-2013 Pune to Bangalore Part 14/14

The total journey took 14 days and total of 128 hours of driving time and completed almsot 700 kilometers. The total diesel consumed was approximately 550 litres. The fuel consumption was 12.8 kpl. The total toll amount paid was Rs. 4933/-. Here are the details of the tolls.
In summary, the whole trip was fantastic. We always preferred better road even if we had to travel longer. We found driving on bad road very tiring.

Travelog: Seven Jyotirlings and other stuff, 14 days Part 12/14

Our original plan was to visit Omkareshwar on 17th-April-2013 and Mahakaleshwar on 18-April-2013. But due to the problem with the car's tires, we had to postpone the 17-April-2013 trip to the next day.
18-April-2013
7:30am Left Ujjain towards Indore, to further continue to Omkareshwar.
9:30am Crossed Indore city


View Larger Map
We took the road that goes to Khandwa for going to Omkareshwar. There is lot of construction going on where this road crosses the A B Road. You can see many colleges on this stretch. I even remember seeing the proposed site for Indian Institute of Technology, Indore on this road.
10:00am Crossed Simrol
10:10am Crossed Baigram
10:15am Crossed Choral, there is a railway station visible.
10:30am Crossed Balwara.
10:50am Crossed Barawah. There is a railway station visible right on the main road.
11:00am Left the main road by turning left towards Omkareshwar. From there the road become worse. It is very narrow and just about drivable.
11:15am Reached Omkareshwar. There are many parking places leading up to temple. One needs to park in one of them. On busy days, one may have to park much earlier and walk. The road leading towards temple is narrow with road side shops for prasad etc.

Omkareshwar Temple

To go to temple, one has to cross a pedestrian bridge over Narmada River. Actual temple is on an island. So this bridge is only way to reach there. There is also a big Shiva statue up the mountain which one can only go by trekking. We did not go there.
As one can see, even god is commercialized now a days. Mobile companies are vying with everybody else to plug themselves at god's place. As ususal, it is a good idea to by prasad from the vendors closer to temple, so you can leave your footwear there. In Omkareshwar, there is a hardsell from freelance pujaris to do some or other puja on your behalf, so one needs to be careful and signup for what one wishes. The temple was not very busy and it took us around 30 minutes to do darshan and get back to parking.

View of the pedestrian bridge from the temple

Here is another panoramic view of whole area.

Omkareshwar Panorama

Since we had started in the morning without breakfast, we decided to drop in the Madhya Pradesh Tourish Corporation run Narmada Resort for breakfast. Here is my review of this place in tripadvisor.

1:05pm We left Omkareshwar back to Ujjain where the next place to visit was Mahakaleshwar Jyotirling.
3:20pm We crossed Indore city
4:00pm We reached Mahakaleshwar Jyotirling in Ujjain. Mahakaleshwar temple is in the middle of Ujjain town which is a proper city so on busy days, it becomes difficult to find parking etc. But on lean days, there is sufficient paid parking.
5:20pm We were out of Mahakaleshwar temple.
This completed seven jyotirlings that we had set out to do. Our return journey was planned after a break of couple of weeks.